Nobody has shaken up this year’s contentious Keene mayoral election by filing his candidacy before the ‘major’ candidates this morning at the city clerk’s office in downtown Keene. It was an unusual scene today, as I was also in attendance with Nobody and former mayoral candidate Robert Call. For those unfamiliar with the process, when the City of Keene opens its filing window at 8am, there’s always a line of the most punctual candidates. I predicted I’d see current city councilor and 2019 mayoral candidate Mitch Greenwald there waiting and a few others, and I was right. Greenwald in fact had a large number of supporters present, at least 20 inside city hall, many wearing Greenwald campaign shirts. Even more supporters were gathered two doors down at Luca’s for a campaign breakfast.
Nobody shook hands with Greenwald and informed him of his intention to run for mayor of Keene. Greenwald responded positively by saying Nobody’s campaign was “needed” explaining that it would bring levity to what so far has been a very serious race between Greenwald and another sitting city councilor, George Hansel. Nobody is a previous tenant of Greenwald, who is a successful local realtor who also managers a large number of rental properties in town.
This election year has been unusual, at least in the several municipal election cycles I’ve observed. Though the filing window for candidates just opened today and ends on September 10th, Greenwald and Hansel announced their intentions to run months ago, and signs started popping up for both candidates in a heated visibility campaign unlike anything I’ve seen in Keene elections thus far.
Nobody, then Rich Paul, released from jail for selling cannabis.
Though anyone else registered to vote in Keene is certainly able to file for $5 at city hall, it’s possible the two councilors’ expensive mayoral campaigns could be upset by the political newcomer. Excluding Nevada where “none of the above” is a non-binding choice on ballots, this may be the first time anyone anywhere has ever been able to truly vote for Nobody. Nobody’s campaign may even excite people who have quit voting or have never voted into actually showing up at the polls.
Anything’s possible with Nobody.
Nobody is a longtime Keene resident that loves cannabis, cryptocurrency, and freedom. He’s a blogger here at Free Keene and has also launched a campaign website at ElectNobody.com. Follow him there or watch for updates here, but definitely stay tuned to the hottest and likely most entertaining mayoral race in Keene for years!
In an email they sent to the Free Keene account, YouTube claimed they removed the video citing their “community guidelines”:
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Content glorifying or inciting violence against another person or group of people is not allowed on YouTube. We also don’t allow any content that encourages hatred of another person or group of people based on their membership in a protected group.
Of course, this did not happen in our debate. Chris was his usual nasty racist self, but the point was to counter him with a strong opposing view. Rich did a great job of defeating Chris’s pro-hate, pro-state views, and really allowing Chris to reveal just how un-libertarian he has become over the years.
That video link is through the LBRY-related site, Spee.ch, but in case that site goes down, the video should always be available directly through LBRY here.
LBRY.io – Content Freedom
LBRY is a decentralized blockchain-based media protocol that is protecting the internet from censorship. Kudos to the LBRY crew. Please visit their site to learn more and get involved. In fact, a little further digging reveals LBRY has publicly announced their YouTube channel backup program! If you know a YouTube creator who might appreciate having their videos archived permanently to the blockchain, send them to this link: https://lbry.com/youtube
With technology like LBRY growing and getting better and better, perhaps we’re at the beginning of the end of the mega tech corporations’ stranglehold over speech online.
In case you were wondering, YouTube did not provide any link in their email that would allow their decision to be appealed.
Adam Kokesh joins from the Free Talk Live broadcast table at Anarchapulco 2018.
“Free Talk Live“, the world’s only nationally syndicated pro-liberty radio show, was created in Florida on a little FM talk station in Sarasota in 2002. In 2004 we became nationally syndicated with an initial three radio stations by the Genesis Communications Network. Seven years later, we reached 100 affiliates in 2011. Now, approximately eight years after that, we’ve reached 200 stations!
What an amazing run it has been so far and we couldn’t have done it without the support of our various sponsors, especially Credit Adjustments Inc and Bitcoin.com and the nearly 2,000 people who have helped AMP our show over the years.
In the syndicated radio world, it’s hard to find a show that keeps an accurate affiliate count. I know this because it’s my job to contact radio stations about FTL. Whenever another syndicated show ends, the first thing I do is try to acquire their affiliate list and call their stations to pitch Free Talk Live to the program directors. If I can even find a list, nearly always there are a BUNCH of stations on there that have changed formats, gone off-the-air entirely, or had already dropped the show in question, sometimes years prior. Syndicated radio shows are notorious for keeping inaccurate affiliate lists, but Free Talk Live is different.
I call all our stations multiple times each year to keep in touch, remind them I’m here to help, and if I find out we’ve been dropped, I take them off our list. If we kept our list like the other shows do – keeping every station we’ve ever had on the list forever – we’d be claiming 400 stations! Ours is the most accurate list in the business, of that I am certain. As of now, we have 203. You can see the full list here on our website.
I’ve lovingly dubbed FTL the “radio vulture”. Whenever a syndicated show dies, we’re there to pick at its remains and grab a few new affiliates. This tactic, plus just good old-fashioned persistence, has resulted in Free Talk Live being the longest running syndicated show in our daypart of 7-10pm Eastern.
“Free Talk Live” Moves up to #27 on the TALKERS “Heavy Hundred” for 2018!
We’re like an appliance – turn us on during our live times, and we’re there. FTL is one of the few shows that’s live all seven nights per week. In fact, I think Coast 2 Coast is the only other show that does this in the industry.
We just jumped from 196 affiliates to 203 thanks to the demise of multiple shows on our own network, GCN. Recently they decided to whittle down their inventory of shows to simplify their operations and lower costs. Free Talk Live is their number one show for radio affiliates. We have more than their previous top show, Alex Jones, and we’ve bested Jones for many years now. To Jones’ credit, he kills us in internet popularity, but we win by a longshot in broadcast affiliates.
We’re not crazy conspiracy nuts. We just love freedom and are grateful to be able to talk about it seven nights a week to a national and international audience. If you’ve never listened, you can grab archives and our podcast here at FreeTalkLive.com.
If you want to help us bring the message of liberty to our next major milestone of 300 affiliates in the U.S., sooner rather than later, please take a moment and join the AMP program for just $5 (or BTC) a month. Right now we have just under 200 AMPlifiers and we could use your help. The $5 you’ll spend will go further today than it did 15 years ago when we had fewer stations, as the more affiliates we have, the easier it is to bring on new ones. Plus, you’ll get access to some cool perks!
Thank you again to all our AMPlifiers, advertisers, affiliates, and listeners, whether you’re supporting us now or have at some point in the past. You helped make this unprecedented success possible.
After having a wonderful time at Anarchapulco 2019, I was looking forward to coming back to New Hampshire. After being gone a total of twelve days, it felt like too long. Mexico was fun, but I missed “the Shire“. I’d scheduled a red eye flight back to the US via JFK airport and would arrive at JFK not long after 5am. This is generally a good time to speed through customs as the airport is pretty empty of passengers so the lines are very short.
Indeed, there was no line whatsoever in the main intake room with the Orwellian police state kiosks that demand ID and take your photograph, printing out a slip that you’re then expected to take to a Customs and Border Protection agent at a booth. There was only one person in the line at the booth in front of me. Despite having smooth sailing the previous year, this year was very different. After checking my ID, the initial CBP agent told me to report to a room off to the left, aka “secondary”.
After years of reporting on my talk radio program about the unconstitutional device searches going on at CBP checkpoints, I finally became part of the statistics. I was to have my devices searched in secret – or have them confiscated. According to the AP, CBP conducted searches of 29,000 devices in 2017, up from 18,400 in 2016, a 57% increase from the previous year! The Electronic Frontier Foundation is suing over it but the border device search policy has been infringing on travelers’ privacy for over a decade.
CBP’s argument is basically that you don’t have rights at the border and they can search whatever they want. Though their policy was recently updated to clarify they supposedly can’t search your online accounts via your phone, how would you really know? Even though they’re supposed to put your phone in airplane mode when they search it, they are allowed to search it in secret, where you can’t observe. That means they can image your phone, plant something on it, and access your accounts, or they could follow their rules and not do those things. You have no idea.
In my case, I went into “secondary”, located off to the side of the main intake area. It was a dismal room with institutional lighting and a bunch of CBP officers sitting behind a counter that stretched the length of the room. Given the time of day, there weren’t many victims of the CBP’s aggression sitting in the several rows of chairs, but there were a handful. All of them with brown skin, waiting around to be “served” by one of the officious, uniformed CBP bureaucrats shuffling about. As each new victim entered the room and sat down, inevitably the victim would pull out their phone in an attempt to kill the time and would be shouted at by a bureaucrat: “no phones!”. No cell phone signs that looked like they were printed 15 years ago had been posted all over the room. For a group of bureaucrats with camera systems everywhere, they sure are awful concerned about pictures being taken of their drab, boring office.
Actual photo from CBP of the area I was held – you can see one of the no cell phones signs.
Anyway, after waiting for a bit, an overweight Asian female officer called me up and had some questions about my name, like why I changed it. I told her, “I wanted to.” I understand that due to CBP refusing to respect rights at the border, you’re expected to answer questions about your identity and your travel, but beyond that scope you are not obligated to answer questions. She had me go sit back down for more waiting. Eventually an “Officer Uzzi”, also a portly New Yorker male-type, called me up to his counter. We were to go back to the table in the back hallway for a search. Uzzi acted like he’d be able to get this taken care of as quickly as possible. I knew better than to believe him. I’d gone into the office at about 5:30am and though there was no clock on the wall, it was taking a while and I suspected I’d miss my connecting flight to Boston despite it being at 8:00am.
After Uzzi pawed through my backpack and checked bag they’d had the Delta crew retrieve for them, it came time for the device search. At this point, from the reporting we’ve done on the issue on Free Talk Live, I know that you can choose to refuse to allow them to search the devices, but if you do, they will confiscate them. Whether you can ever get them back is another question. So, since most people don’t want to have to buy a new phone and laptop every time they come back into the U.S. and leaving them at home is probably not an option, CBP knows people are stuck in a place where 99.9% of their victims will hand over their devices for the unconstitutional search. (more…)
I had the honor of being interviewed on “Bitcoin Cast” on YouTube. I was able to discuss why New Hampshire is the Crypto Mecca and why liberty-friendly cryptocurrency users ought to move here. Thanks to host Christian for having me on. Here’s the video:
Unfortunately, this year’s event received quite a bit of bad press in the couple weeks prior. A self-proclaimed anarchist, John Galton was shot to death. Galton had been living in the area after allegedly escaping prosecution for cannabis “crimes” by the US Federal gang. Despite the murder having nothing to do with Anarchapulco as Galton was co-organizer of a different and now-canceled event called Anarchaforko, Anarchapulco was targeted by the media anyway.
No one knows the real story behind the murder. Various theories abound. Was the murder an inside job, a cartel killing, or something else? Would Anarchapulco founder Jeff Berwick be gunned down during his own event? This had the liberty community buzzing away before Anarchapulco 2019 began. Would the speakers show up? Would the attendees? I even heard that some craven busybodies had been contacting speakers and encouraging them to cancel.
Anarchapulco 2019 Logo
Turns out, the event is a major success, with excellent attendance, likely more than last year, which was a sellout. This year the organizers rented the entire resort and it seems to have been worth it. They’re already planning for 2020.
That said, it is likely some attendees chose to stay home due to fear. According to one participant, Anarchapulco tickets were allegedly being offered for sale before the event at a very low price on some facebook group. There was discussion by some over what, if any, extra security would be provided. This, despite no credible threat being made against the event.
It’s true that some speakers didn’t make it either, but that happens at any convention, especially one the size and complexity of Anarchapulco, where there are several stages operating simultaneously. It’s inevitable cancellations will occur. Shit happens.
The real test was Dr. Ron Paul, who was scheduled to speak this evening as the event keynote. If he didn’t show, I think the tone of the event would have shifted to depressed and negative from excited and positive.
Lyn Ulbricht chats with Ron Paul at Anarchapulco 2019
Not only did Ron Paul show up and give a great, uplifting speech, he came in the front like a boss, rather than slipping in the back, and spent plenty of time with his fans on his leisurely pace to the main event stage. He stopped many times for long periods to chat and pose for photos. Afterwards, there was a special dinner with Dr. Paul and he hung around to spend even more time with regular event attendees both before and after the dinner, in different parts of the hotel. We just kept seeing him over and over posing with people for photos. It was great.
There’s a reason Ron Paul is a libertarian hero and people flock to see him speak. He has always stood for his beliefs, whether in D.C., Texas, or in Acapulco. He’s never backed down.
When some suggested we at Free Talk Live not attend at all and even my co-host Mark Edge proffered we hide away broadcasting in a green room, I said no way. I don’t live in fear. I’m glad and honored to have Ron Paul at my side – literally.
Thanks for coming to Anarchapulco 2019, Ron. You rock.
